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Hello, as with every season I like to round up some things I’m excited to use. Today I am sharing a few festive items.

Body cream- I have heard literally every other beauty blogger recommend this cream. I was sick of hearing about how great it was and how delicious it smells. I finally bought the bullet and got a travel size tub. I love it! This cream truly delivers moisture which is essential for when it is cooler and dryer. And yes, it does smell really good!

Body mist- A Thousand Wishes is a popular recurring holiday fragrance from BBW. It smells like sparkles and champagne and a shimmery gold lame dress!

Candle I couldn’t talk about my favourite things without including a candle. This is a repeat purchase: Marshmallow Fireside from White Barn/BBW. This one has a woodsy yet sweet smell.

Body wash- Snow Angel by Philosophy, one of my favourite bath and body companies has a crisp slighlty warm sugary smell. I got this in a mini size because I only plan on using it during the festive season. Philosophy products always have a strong yet not overpowering scent and they give a good lather leaving your skin clean and moisturiser.

Eyeshadow palette- This palette, Prism by Anastasia Beverley Hills is their holiday edition. I love the glittery jewel and metallic tones but I am also super intrigued by the bright matter. ABH ‘s formula is generally very pigmented and smooth and this palette is no different. I think it’s awesome for the holiday season but definitely great year round.

Tea- Over the past year I have become very fond of tea. My preference is a fruit or even floral tea but this Chai spice tea is flavourful, spicy and very festive. It’s great warm with some milk but I actually like my tea (and coffe) cold and sans milk.
Those are a few of my favourite festive things. Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!

Today we do another edible DIY gift. This is Brownie Mix in a Jar. This could easily be cake mix or pancake mix or almost anything you like. For this I chose brownies.Whatever baked treat you decide on, you can select a recipe of choice and basically put the dry ingredients in a jar.

Brownie Mix Ingredients

For this Brownie Mix I used a slightly varied version of a recipe on Joy of Baking. Everything this lady does is golden. I substituted white sugar for brown sugar and added walnuts and pecans.

WHAT YOU NEED

1) 150g of chocolate chips

2) 113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

3) 2 tbsp cocoa (unsweetened ) powder

4) 1 cup brown sugar -I used coconut sugar (most brown sugar will be less sweet than granulated sugar, you can substitute it with that if you want it more sweet)

1) Assemble your ingredients and place a funnel or makeshift funnel ( I rolled wax paper into a cone shape and taped it) into the jar so your ingredients can land where you want.

PROTIP : Do not be like me and use the wrong sized jar, try to estimate what size jar will fit the ingredients beforehand.

Jar with funnel

2) Pour in your first layer, flour and tap bottom of jar to counter to make it as level as possible.

Flour layer

3) Add second layer, sugar in similar fashion. If you are using granulated sugar you may want to place the cocoa powder between the sugar and flour for contrast.

Sugar added

4) Add the next layer which for me is cocoa. Next time I would put the flour between the cocoa and sugar for more contrast.

Cocoa layer

5) Add chocolate chips and nuts on top.

Add toppings and extras

6) On a large tag or piece of paper, write the name of your mix (Brownie mix), list the ingredients included as well as what will be required and write the instructions on how to prepare.

Tag and twine

7) Add to jar with twine and it’s ready to gift!

Finished gift

When your giftee is going to make her/his treat advise them to carefully scoop out each layer so they don’t end up getting mixed together.

This gift is visually pleasing and as much fun to give as it is to receive. You can get as creative as you want adding whatever toppings and extras you think your friend or relative will love making it really personal. The cost of this gift depends heavily on the ingredients you choose however most basic baking supplies are inexpensive and if you plan on giving multiple people this gift it will really cut your cost down.